Coronavirus pandemic reduced worldwide income by about 10 per cent: ILO

International Labour Organisation, in its report, has said that income earned from work worldwide has dropped by 10.7 per cent in first nine months of 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic. The drop in income is estimated to be USD 3.5 trillion. The figure is equivalent to 5.5 per cent of global GDP.

ILO said that the worst hit in these developments are those in informal employment in emerging economies. Such people have been hit worse than they were during crises in the past.

“Just as we need to redouble our efforts to beat the virus, so we need to act urgently and at scale to overcome its economic, social and employment impacts. That includes sustaining support for jobs, businesses and incomes,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said in a statement.

The ILO said that work hour losses due to closure of workplaces are higher than previously estimated.

The UN agency said that the estimate of working time lost was 17.3 per cent, up from 14 per cent estimated previously. This is equivalent to 495 million full time jobs. This estimate was made for the second quarter of this year.

ILO said that it expected 12.1 per cent of work hour losses in the third quarter.

The projection in final quarter of 2020 is 8.6 per cent loss of working hours. This translates to 245 million full-time jobs.

(With inputs from Reuters)